"Air Guitar Nation" cranks the make-believe volume up to 11

How many times has this happened to you...you're listening to music and an epic guitar solo comes on. What do you do?!? You bust out the air guitar, showing onlookers the musical virtuoso you are.

Apparently, air guitar is bigger than I realized. Since 1996, Oulu, Finland has been the home of the Air Guitar World Championships. Essentially the Olympics of air guitar, contestants from all around the world compete to bring this coveted trophy back to their home country. Competitions consist of two rounds: in the first, contestants perform a song of their choosing. The second round is a song picked by the judges, not revealed until the competition, that contestants have to improv. Contestants are judged based on their "airness" and pure rock-ness.

Sadly, the US did not participate on this world stage until 2003. It was then that Americans realized what a travesty this was and the US Air Guitar Championships were founded. After a series of regional competitions, the best performers go to Finland to represent the US.

Air Guitar Nation is a documentary (more along the lines of This is Spinal Tap than a traditional documentary) about the founding of the US Air Guitar Championships, the first competitions in the US, and the journey to the 2003 World Championships (including an air guitar training camp!) in Finland. You'll meet many of the zany US performers, including C. Diddy and Björn Türoque, whose fierce rivalry becomes a central focus of the film.

Air Guitar Nation is extremely entertaining, hilarious, and very well made. How does the US fare in their first outing in the World Championships? Watch the movie and find out for yourself!

Comments (6)

This is in transit to McCollough for me to pick up. I am convinced that in my day I could have made a great air guitarist. I may now have to bequeath the effort to my son who is an expert at Guitar Hero and a pretty good air guitarist.

Um...wow. I think I just really loved the ending comment of "We just need to find that person with the essence of airguitarness (is that a word?) coursing in their veins." I will be quoting that for days.

I did watch this and liked it although I have to say that I was disappointed with the venue for the world championship. Reminded me of a rodeo...don't international air guitarists get any respect ?$?#?!!!!!?? (At the risk of being disrespectful, the guy outfitted as a well-known religious figure was hilarious!)